The Truth

[Jonah]

Hi all,
found this site after doing some research on the RS4, I'm was seriously thinking about making a purchase.....until I read all the problems on here.

Seriously though, I would like to hear your oppinions on buying an 06 RS4 saloon.

Obviously these are out of manufacturers waranty, but how reliable are they, should I be putting money to the side and expecting expensive problems!?

Would you buy one?

[RS6chris!]

I did and havent looked back since!!! Goes as quick as the day i got it..NO DRC Issues...love it love it love it.

Dont let the doom and gloom merchants that sometimes post on here put you off IMO. They are a high performance highly strung car like most quick cars and take a liittle more looking after thats all..big wallet required but lke i have said its a high performance car.

I love mine....we own IMO the type of car that from now on is a dying breed...4.2 V8 etc etc...to many greenies now get one while you can...like the salesmen who sold me mine said"you only live once" my mind was made up and i aint looked back since.

Go on get one you know you want too....

[Sims]

Would you buy one?

Welcome to RS246.

I know of the DRC issue & the carbon build-up discussion.

I still bought one for it is a great, great package.

[sonny]

Welcome to RS246 too.

Now tell me one thing, name me one car that does not have problems, you go on any car forum, 911/Rolls Royce/Subaru's etc etc and they all have there problems!

What I will say, is that for some reason, this forum has become a place to air the B7 RS4's laundry, Now you could say we are sticking up for the Model, however If I was well and truly let down by it, I would have sold it ages ago. DRC is on a extended 5 years warranty, and CB effects all FSI engines.

Over 2 years of ownership, am I selling soon, NO!.

[pad125]

I think the truth is we all have moan about this and that but I cant remember anyone on here selling their pride and joy because of the 'issues' talked about here.

The model is about 5 years old and it still turns heads on the streets; you’ll be hard pushed to find anything that gives you as much fun for the money……on 4 wheels anyway

[Jonah]

Don't wory, I've just sold an X5 and the forum I used to look on was all doom and gloom too.

Thanks for the feedback, I understand all cars have problems, just need to weigh up my options. I had a Afla 156 GTA for a few years with no problem at all, you pay your money you take your chance!

Couple more questions, does the DRC problem reocur with new parts?

and would I bennefit for paying more for the car from an audi dealership?

[Sims]

Couple more questions, does the DRC problem reocur with new parts?

and would I bennefit for paying more for the car from an audi dealership?

Apparently generation 3 dampers have proved to be reliable (according to Audi Camberley, they know a lot about these cars).

If you buy the car privately, and it is not under manufacturer's warranty, you can get an Audi warranty after a 145 multipoint inspection (at your cost). The warranty costs £1655 per annum.

So do factor that in the equation - I would prefer to buy from an Audi Dealer for a specialist car like this.

[Dom81]

Agree with all above - the car's fantastic. We too often concentrate on the negatives (or spend hours arguing whether something is even negative at all...)

does the DRC problem reocur with new parts?

They are going wrong much less frequently now. Some of this might be down to more dealers doing a decent fitting job, but the modified part looks to be a major factor.

Remember that there's a 5 year / 75k mile extended warrantly on all DRC related issues, so you needn't worry about it

[Sims]

What I will say, is that for some reason, this forum has become a place to air the B7 RS4's laundry,!.

We could of course talk about it on the Skoda forum.

As the OP has mentioned, the X5 forum would have information about the X5 issues et al.

[northernpar]

I'm with all of the above. All cars have issues (just ask Toyota owners!) that owners will grumble about. Porsche have issues with their Rear Main Seal (RMS) which is what you'll find on that forum (previous owner). Landrovers have too many issues to mention here (current owner). But so far my RS4 has not proved any less reliable than any other car I have owned, in fact it has probably been the most reliable with the execption of the wife's old Rav4 and who wants to be seen in one of them! True that if something does go wrong then it could be pricey to fix if not under warranty but again this applies to any top end car. As stated previously you need to factor all this into the economics to determine if this car is right for you.

[Pie]

Hi Jonah,
I've had mine a week now and like you was a bit apprehensive about the thought of costly ownership / potential repairs after reading about DRC and Carbon issues.
At the end of the day, only a handful (ok, maybe a large handful) of cars were affected by DRC but as mentioned, Audi extended warranty on this item.

Look at it this way, I only sat in and drove an RS4 for the first time ever last Wednesday morning – after I had paid the full amount for it!
No test drive, just a straight swap of cash for goods.
Laugh and call me a mug if you will but I had done my homework and was buying from an Audi dealer so was confident of not having any major issues and being left out of pocket - plus I'm covered under their 1000 mile / 30 day exchange plan as well as 12 month warranty and any insider knowledge about the car / recalls gleaned from this forum!

The rarity value and looks are worth the cash alone.
Where my thing parks in the works car park is right next to where the pedestrian path is marked out, I have a window desk looking out onto the car.
The amount of people who stop and have a good nosey around it is unreal. Company cars are all (standard boring) Audi’s too so this one really stands out.

Then you have the awesome V8 grumble…..
Start button -> V8 comes to life -> Sport button -> drive out of car park whilst unnecessarily blipping the throttle.
Yes I need to grow up and get a life.

To me, 30k is a lot of money to throw at a car. The week running up to ownership I still had reservations and wasn’t excited in the slightest. For 30k I could buy an E46 M3, get a new kitchen fitted, new bathroom, get the driveway lockblocked, get someone in to put a fence up round my back garden, pay off the outstanding finance on the bike AND still have money left over to go on holiday with the missus.
Or I could spend it all on a car.

Chose the latter and knew I had made the right choice as soon as started it up and drove it off the forecourt!

[kman]

I'd say go for it, if you havent owned one they are fantastic and the issues are relatively minor (given theres extended warranty on the DRC issue anyway).

[sonny]

What I will say, is that for some reason, this forum has become a place to air the B7 RS4's laundry,!.

We could of course talk about it on the Skoda forum.

Alright smarty pants you know what I mean

[Jonah]

No test drive, just a straight swap of cash for goods.

Quality, you lot are getting me all giddy! Got about 4-6wks for things to fall in place.

Did you manage to chip the price from Audi Pie?

[RS6chris!]

Truth be known....i think most of us put up with the little niggles because the car is so good at soooo many things!!!!!

Ive got rid of cars for niggly things in the past,things that were stupid in hindsight...but theres nothing around at the moment that even turns my head or heart.

Had her two years now..longest ive ever had a car!!!!!!!!